Filling Archival Silences: Reflections on Community Archiving for Social Justice

Abstract

George Floyd’s murder by ex-police officer Derek Chauvin sparked an international wave of protests against racial injustice. In Gainesville, the community came together to place memorials to Floyd and other victims of racial injustice at UF and on the 34^th St. Wall. Materials left at the memorial site and the photographs taken of the Wall and the memorial site are archived in University Archives at the George A. Smathers Libraries. The goal of the “All Black Lives Matter: Documenting Community Response to Racial Injustice” project encourages students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to reflect on this moment in the nation’s history, as well as the responsibility they have to dismantle racism and anti-Blackness in their sphere of influence.